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To anyone out there who happens to be a lifelong fan of the Sacramento Kings, let me just say I’m truly sorry. This season was not supposed to go down this way.
This was supposed to be the year where Kings fans would see their team make the long-awaited return to the postseason, or at the very least push for a playoff spot until the very end. This was the year where a young roster with its fair share of budding talent – including potential superstar DeMarcus Cousins – was going to finally take a big step forward in the always-competitive Western Conference.
As you Sacramento fans now know very well, this was indeed not the case.
Despite opening the current NBA season with a surprising 9-5 record, things took a turn for the worst when Cousins came down with viral meningitis, resulting in his missing ten games. As a result, the team struggled, but not enough to merit the hitting of any panic buttons. This message apparently didn’t get across to Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, who fired coach Mike Malone in mid-December and replaced him with assistant Ty Corbin.
Now, you would think a front office firing a coach, someone who appeared to be developing his team appropriately, midway through the second month of the season due to his “not meeting win-loss expectations” would be the bottom of the barrel. However, with recent news, it appears the Kings are still finding new ways to drive this season further into the ground.
Numerous reports are surfacing claiming the team is ready to fire Corbin over the All-Star break – yes, this upcoming All-Star break – in an attempt to hire George Karl. Though the original plan was to let Corbin coach for the remainder of the season and proceed with a search for his replacement afterwards, a curveball was thrown when the Orlando Magic fired their coach, Jacque Vaughn, and expressed interest in Karl. As a result, the Kings are currently all-in in attempts to beat out the Magic and bring in their top coaching candidate now.
This is all a lot to digest. To clarify the situation as best as I can, I would say Sacramento’s front office is drunk behind the wheel.
Nothing the Kings’ ownership has done this season makes any sense. This was a team that looked primed and ready to finally make an impact in their conference, but since they dared to fall two games below .500 before Christmas while missing easily their best player, Ranadivé felt it was time to blow it all up.
Let’s move past the Malone incident, though. What’s done is done. How the front office is handling their current situation is so much messier.
Is Karl a quality NBA coach? Does he have the abilities to turn this roster into a legitimate threat in the West? Of course. At the same time, the argument isn’t being made against the idea of hiring Karl. The issue at hand is just how badly the Kings are bumbling their way through their attempts to get him.
At the moment, Sacramento is 10 ½ games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Being in this position heading into the All-Star break in the most competitive conference in the league essentially guarantees Sacramento will be missing out on the postseason again. The team as a whole looks lost. They’ve derailed on the court and post-game interviews imply morale is plummeting.
I mention all of this because, frankly, I’m wondering what the Kings are thinking when it comes to firing yet another coach and swinging for the fences by going after Karl now. Barring a miracle turnaround, they’re already a lottery team. I’m not saying they should tank for a better draft pick, but I’d like to think pursuing that goal makes a whole lot more sense than bringing in Karl now with hopes for an instant turnaround.
Also, what happens if they can’t land Karl at all? Reports initially indicated the talks between Sacramento and the former coach are “heating up,” but now word is they’ve stalled. Regardless, right now the Kings are playing for a coach who could be gone at any second, and everyone outside the organization is well aware of it. If Corbin ends up staying because of the front office’s failure to get Karl, it’s tough to believe anyone in the locker room will feel particularly gung-ho about a team being run by a coach who management was ready to fire, but couldn’t get his replacement just yet, so they’ll ax him this summer instead.
Even worse, Sacramento is purposefully causing more turmoil chasing after one coach as if there won’t be any other viable candidates to interview in the offseason. Why rush now simply because another team might be interested in the same guy? Coaches like Tom Thibodeau or Frank Vogel could be available after the season ends, and either would be a quality hire for the Kings. Yet, in what appears to be an attempt at setting the world record for fired coaches in a single season, Sacramento’s front office is going for broke on trying to land Karl now.
There’s always a chance something this crazy and chaotic ends up working out for the better. At the same time, does anyone really have this kind of faith in Kings’ management right now? Have they done anything this season which would make them appear as though they know exactly what they’re doing?
Imagine playing for the Kings. You’re a member of what was seen as an up-and-coming team as you entered this season. Your coach got fired just barely over a quarter into the year. Your team has since fallen into a downward spiral, and you may or may not have a second fired coach in the span of about two months. How confident are you in the decision-making of your team’s front office?
I’d say, on a scale of 1-10, said confidence has likely plummeted into the negatives, and it’s quite a shame. The Kings were supposed to have a quality season, and now they’ve become a sideshow, all thanks to a front office that can’t seem to figure out how to run a basketball team.
Casey Drottar is Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook
